Earls Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Saskatoon

My husband and I wanted to try some place different to celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary so we chose Earls. I made an online reservation the night before. There was a spot for occasion, ok so I put anniversary. When we came in, I told them about the reservation. Two girls spoke briefly then asked us to sit for a minute. Not sure why as it wasn’t busy at all but ok fine. When our server came we each ordered a drink when she introduced herself and I asked a question I had hoped to have answer to before I ordered my meal.

When our server came back asking if we knew what we wanted to order (no drinks yet) I asked if she had an answer to my question in which she realized she forgot to do so. We went ahead and ordered anyways.

The food was ok. I asked for Caesar salad with extra dressing (some places are so light there’s nothing there but lettuce) Anyways, I made sure to explain that to my server not too much but enough and that I didn’t want it saturated In it. Well I’m not sure if she stopped listening when I said extra dressing because when I got my salad it was pretty saturated that I almost couldn’t eat it. I was going to take it home and add lettuce to it but I ate it anyways. I really liked the chicken tenders & fries. Sauces were good.

My husband ordered 12oz Prime Striploin rare. Although the cook on it was perfect, it had some pretty tough spots and was lacking flavour. The broccolini was hot and tasty. The mashed potatoes were barely warm. We ordered cheesecake for dessert. It was good. I liked that it wasn’t too sweet!

Now for the part that really got me. We were asked by our server if our bill was together or separate?? I’m sorry, call me old fashion but in what world does a couple out for an anniversary need to be asked if our bill is separate? I’m not even sure why Earls has a space for occasion when booking online because I don’t even think anyone even looked at that part, or if they did, there was zero acknowledgement of it anyways.

Other places we’ve dined at for an anniversary, they would greet us right away “Oh I see you’ve got a reservation for an anniversary!” Also, other establishments would decorate the dessert a little with a “Happy Anniversary” written on it. The little things really do matter the most. A little effort goes a long way. It was NOT busy at all either so there’s no excuse.

I want to mention I have experience serving. I did it for 15 + years, maybe I just expect more because I was damn good at what I did. I always went above and beyond. I guess some people just don’t have it in them.

Anyways, It was all just mediocre. Nothing stood out besides the lack of service and effort. We would likely never go back.

Edit: 3 stars down to 1. Bunch of liars trying to make themselves look good here. No one ever did reach out to me FYI and please don’t bother now.. Just...

The whole dining experience was terrible. I entered through the main entrance and asked the hostess for seating for 3. She said it would be a 15 minute wait. I asked if there was someplace we could sit and wait, to which we were told that we would have e to wait in our vehicle. I walked away and overheard the same hostess asking the next group of people for their names and a cell number, and the same for the next group of people. I returned to the podium and asked why hadn't she asked for my name and cell number to which she stated "I didn't know that you wanted to stay." I responded with I asked if we could sit and wait, is that not an indication of intent to stay? She then entered me in the computer and I took my disabled mother a block back to our vehicle. I receive a text that our table is ready. We return to the dining room and we were taken all the way around to tables we could have made 4 steps to get to through a glass door. The same glass door that allowed us to see that those tables had been unoccupied the entire time we were there. Each table only allowed for 2 guests. I asked the hostess if we could move things around so we could all sit together and so that I could get away from the draft off the window. She allowed me to swing my bench in front of the other table. We order our food. When the food arrives I inform the server that it is very cold where we are seated and ask if there is anything she can do. She tells me just hang on then doesn't return. Our orders arrive and we begin eating, jackets still on. The food was mediocre at best. The Cajun chicken was sprinkled with Cajun seasoning rather than marinated and the garlic mashed potatoes were from a box. My guests had fish and chips and BBQ ribs. They both stated the food was ok. The portions were small. The positive, our plates were warm and we were able to warm our hands on them. Once again I told the server we were cold and she said again she'll see what she can do. We left very disappointed. As we sat at the table we witnessed other guests being permitted to wait in the lobby area. ? The service was poor, the environment was poor the food was just ok and our first dining experience at Earls will be our last dining...

We were in Saskatoon for a birthday celebration. We chose to eat at Earl's as we love the patio and the 5 of us have all had great experiences in the past. Unfortunately this was not one of them. We had to wait to get on the patio, which was fine as it was a busy Saturday night. While waiting in the lounge, we noticed 3 tables being sat outside. This was odd because when we arrived we were told we would be the next party to be sat on the patio and all of these groups had arrived after us. We checked with our hostest and for some odd reason, our name had be crossed off. We had a pager so it wasn't as if we were not found once an outdoor table became available. We were finally sat. But there were misfires throughout the rest of the evening.

No toilet paper in the bathroom stall I was using, unacceptable considering how early it was.

Our food took over an hour. We were starving.

It was a birthday for a member of our party. When another member of our group approached our server, privately, about paying for her supper, buying a round of shots and a slice of cake for the birthday girl, she was cut off right after the words, "It's my friends birthday. . " by our server exclaiming, "She doesn't get free cake!" My friend was offened this was our servers assumption. (Although, considering you forgot our table, something free would have been nice. Other high end restaurants have done this without being asked.)

It took a unreasonably long time to get our bill as well, but in our servers defence , she was sat several table in a short amount of time just as we were wrapping up.

I'm a rather easy going person. This is actually the first negative review I've ever written . All in all, a rather disappointing experience ....